Research Subject Area: Communication and Media Studies

REF impact found 7 Case Studies

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Summary of the impact

Research at UWE Bristol in new media and games has engaged business and
policy communities.
The resulting knowledge exchange has underpinned the AHRC Creative Economy
Hub REACT
(Research and Enterprise for Arts and Creative Technologies) which has
stimulated £200k value of
new business for SMEs in its first year of operation. The research has
enabled start-ups, micro
businesses and SMEs in the digital economy to use our critical and
creative methods to improve
their products and services. It has also made a significant contribution
to the development of policy
on games for young people.

Summary of the impact

Research undertaken by Christoph Meyer has had a direct impact on the
European Commission's
external communication policy, structures and capacities, particularly in
2008 and 2009. Policy
recommendations from this research were adopted by the Commission in May
2008 and
influenced its first Corporate Communication Statement of 2009. In sum,
the research had a
significant impact on the communication activities of more than 1900
officials, spending more than
250 million Euros annually and targeted at more than 500 million citizens
of the EU, as well as
foreign publics as part of the EU's external relations.

Submitting Institution

King's College London

Unit of Assessment

Politics and International Studies

Summary Impact Type

Political

Research Subject Area(s)

Summary of the impact

University of East London (UEL) research on media policies has
contributed to policy submissions made to the UK government, Leveson
Inquiry, politicians and regulators, and to supranational organisations
such as the European Commission. The research has particularly informed
the development of policies adopted by civil society organisations and has
influenced regulatory outcomes, policies and policy debates, especially
where these relate to product placement, cross- media promotion, and media
ownership and pluralism. Proposals on media plurality have informed UK
policy debate, particularly via their reference in oral evidence provided
by Dr. Jonathan Hardy to the 2013 House of Lords Select Committee on
Communications. These policies on media ownership have also influenced
Labour Party policy debate and formulation, and have been adopted by the
TUC and other organisations.

Summary of the impact

Research on forms of agency in digital games has been directly applied to
major game releases in Facebook and social-mobile development,
demonstrating substantial and measurable commercial impact with global
potential within a highly competitive industry. Specific research insights
have affected key aspects of the design of individual games, resulting in
higher than usual success rates for the titles involved. These insights
have also improved the playing experiences of large numbers of players, as
demonstrated by the level of take-up, creating a broader cultural impact.
The impact is significant, in substantially improving the performance of
games, and has extensive reach via the numbers of players who have
benefited from an improved experience.

To date the research has had impact on more than one million players and
helped to secure multiple contracts worth more than £2 million for the
British game company Mediatonic. It has the potential (based on the
user-bases of the companies involved) to reach more than 300 million
users. Social-mobile games are at the forefront of the contemporary games
industry. Mediatonic is a world leader in this form of gaming and this
research has substantially influenced the company's design strategy.

Research Subject Area(s)

Summary of the impact

Research from the Creative Futures Institute (CFi) has generated original
understandings of how social media has triggered change within the
practice of journalism. The evidence shows how findings from 3
inter-related projects were a catalyst for skills development and
generated new contributions to civil society and the creative community.
Impact is demonstrated across 15 organisations where new community media
collectives were developed around the Vancouver 2010 Olympics (W2 Centre
& True North Media House) and London 2012 Olympics (#media2012 &
#CitizenRelay). UWS research led these organisations to invest £115,000
additional funds and implement these findings in their current work.